Collin Chandler has been ‘growing big-time roots’ this season for Kentucky
Kentucky basketball cruised to a 21-point win on Wednesday against Vanderbilt, thanks to a big second half by the Wildcats that included multiple runs to help break away from the one-point halftime lead. A big emergence in the game was freshman Collin Chandler off the bench, who had his best game as a Wildcat.
Lately, due to injuries, Kentucky has needed guys like Chandler to step up. While Travis Perry and Trent Noah have been huge off the bench, it was the other freshman who had a very good game this time. Chandler had 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and added 2 steals on the defensive end. He did all of that in 15 minutes of action off the bench.
Mark Pope, who recruited Chandler to BYU, knows his story and how he is as a player. Pope talked with media after Kentucky’s win on Wednesday, where he raved about Chandler’s growth, saying he’s ‘growing big-time roots’ as the season goes along.
“I thought Collin gave us a massive boost tonight energy wise. You know, he is a
two-two-two guy. Two assists, two turnovers, two steals. Just the energy and intensity. Collin has a really special burst. …If you think about a bamboo forest, …I
think the Guinness Book of World Records is 36 inches in a day. I think 35 inches in a day. What happens is they grow over time and they grow these massive networks of roots and they grow and grow and grow and you don’t see it. And all of a sudden, they shoot up out of the ground and they are growing almost a yard a day which is almost incomprehensible. That’s a little bit of Collin Chandler. He’s been growing big time roots.”
Chandler’s growth was certainly on display Wednesday, and with Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, and Kerr Kriisa expected to be out again Saturday at Alabama, he and the other two freshmen will need to keep stepping up in their roles.
